Amata Welcomes House Passage of NOAA Research Bills

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata is informing American Samoans of two bipartisan bills that passed the U.S. House of Representatives in Tuesday votes, each supporting various NOAA service and research areas that would include American Samoa.

“These bipartisan efforts strengthen policies, services or studies nationally that would include American Samoa,” said Congresswoman Amata. “These Acts promote ocean acidification research with NOAA in coastal areas, and boost NOAA’s advanced weather model computing capabilities for forecasting and climate analysis.”

H.R. 1715, the Advanced Weather Model Computing Development Act, led by Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) with Rep. Deborah Ross (D-NC), advances numerical weather and climate prediction by directing the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to collaborate on research. DOE's high-performance computing capabilities would contribute to the analysis of NOAA’s weather data sets for the improvement of forecasting and climate modeling.

H.R. 676, the Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act of 2023, led by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) with Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), would direct NOAA to support the efforts of coastal communities, particularly those which are underserved or rural, that face impacts of ocean acidification, and better equip them with resources. Ocean acidification can create challenging growing conditions for marine organisms, particularly those with calcium carbonate shells. This Act emphasizes improved collaboration and information sharing with coastal communities, including the Ocean Acidification Information Exchange to support data sharing, research, data, monitoring, and mitigation efforts.

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